Framingham Town Moderator Ed Noonan dies

The town of Framingham was high on Ed Noonan’s list of loves. A stickler for process, he commanded respect as Town Meeting moderator, making sure speakers began their remarks, “Thank you, Mr. Moderator,” followed by their name and precinct.

By Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA

By Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

Posted Jun. 26, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 26, 2012 at 9:32 PM

By Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

Posted Jun. 26, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 26, 2012 at 9:32 PM

FRAMINGHAM

» Social News

The town of Framingham was high on Ed Noonan’s list of loves.

A stickler for process, he commanded respect as Town Meeting moderator, making sure speakers began their remarks, “Thank you, Mr. Moderator,” followed by their name and precinct.

And he gave that respect right back to the town’s legislative branch.

“He was really a true advocate for Town Meeting and he did like to acknowledge all their hard work,” Town Clerk Valerie Mulvey said yesterday. “I really think he was a champion for that form of government and for the members.”

The 76-year-old Noonan died peacefully in his sleep early yesterday. The news stunned his friends and Framingham residents, leaving them to recall a “classy guy” and “a good citizen.”

“What a loss this is,” Selectman Ginger Esty said. “I never expected him to leave us.”

As did Mulvey, Esty said she counted Noonan as a friend.

“He should be Xeroxed and sprinkled around — he’s that kind of person,” Esty said. “We need more Ed Noonans, not less.”

Noonan leaves his wife, Judy, a retired town librarian, three children and 10 grandchildren.

Relatives and friends are invited to a funeral service Friday at 10 a.m. at Plymouth Church, 87 Edgell Road, Framingham.

Visiting hours are at 5 to 8 p.m. tomorrow at Norton Funeral Home, 53 Beech St.

A dedicated and longtime volunteer, Noonan first took a seat at Town Meeting in 1989.

He went on to serve on and lead the Capital Budget Committee and Standing Committee on Ways and Means, before voters elected him moderator.

Noonan served at the lectern from 2003 to 2005, then lost the gavel to Joel Winett. In 2008, he won it back.

“We had our differences a number of years back, but I was pleased to be able to work with him as chairman of the Rules Committee,” Winett said. “He was dedicated to the town.”

Winett said the two met on Monday, and had plans to meet again today, to discuss the rollout in April of electronic voting at Town Meeting.

“He was fine, he was chipper and fun and nothing was wrong,” Winett said.

Mulvey said she had also just seen Noonan, and is devastated he is gone.

“He was in my office Friday — big smile, chatting away,” Mulvey said.

She said Noonan was highly respected in the Memorial Building.

“He believed in process and he held everybody accountable,” she said. “I thought he was very good at that and I will miss him terribly.”

State Rep. Chris Walsh, D-Framingham, issued a statement on Noonan’s death, saying he is deeply saddened.

“He was a personal friend who was a passionate and energized person who cared deeply about the Town of Framingham and the way government operated,” Walsh said. “The Town of Framingham has a large void to fill with his passing. My thoughts go out to his wife and the entire Noonan family at this difficult time.”

Page 2 of 2 - Noonan lost a grandson, Clark, a 20-year-old Saint Joseph College student and star athlete, in a car accident in Maine in April, a week before Town Meeting.

“I honestly think that broke his heart,” said neighbor Alyson Klane, who only recently moved in next door to the Noonans on Belknap Road but quickly grew to love them.

“He was very warm as a new neighbor, very helpful, kind,” Klane said. “Even though I knew him for a short time, he was like my dad.”

Klane said Noonan liked to garden and he talked about his family with great affection.

“It’s a thankless job being the moderator,” McCarthy said. “It’s very easy to criticize. It’s a very difficult job and I thought he did well at it.”

“Whether you agreed with him or not on some things, he really tried to reach out to both sides of an issue,” said Town Meeting member Janet Leombruno, who called Noonan a dear friend. “Even if you didn’t agree with him, he’s just a classy guy.”

Leombruno served as Noonan’s campaign manager.

Losing the seat to Winett was “a very humbling lesson for him,” she said.

“He put his heart and soul into his job as moderator and he just wanted to really make Framingham … run as efficient as he can,” Leombruno said.

As moderator, Noonan was responsible for appointing and reappointing members of the Personnel Board and the finance, government study, capital budget, real property, technology advisory and Greener Framingham committees.

“I just thought he was a great guy, had lots of responsibility and he carried it out very thoroughly,” Finance Committee Chairwoman Betty Funk said.

Just a decent man, Noonan put in the time, expecting nothing in return, Funk said.

“I considered Ed a good friend and also a good town moderator and I will miss serving with him, I can tell you that right now,” Town Meeting member Kevin Crotty said. Town Meeting member Jeanne Bullock, who served with Noonan on the Capital Budget Committee, said she respected Noonan’s neutrality as moderator.

“He took it very seriously,” she said. “He was just so fair.”

Mulvey said she will preside at the special Town Meeting in October, and as the first order of business, ask Town Meeting to elect a moderator to serve until the April town election.

“He’s going to be hard to replace,” McCarthy said.

(Danielle Ameden can be reached at 508-626-4416 or dameden@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleAmeden.)